Ukrainian Nationals Found Guilty Of Firebombing Keir Starmer's Home

A London court on Monday has convicted two men of plotting a series of firebomb attacks against properties linked to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Roman Lavrynovych, a 22-year-old Ukrainian, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian national born in Ukraine, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.

The convictions follow a weeks-long trial at the Old Bailey, exposing a targeted harassment and property destruction campaign executed last May.

Telegram Recruitment

Prosecutors revealed that the attacks were orchestrated online.

Lavrynovych was recruited via the messaging app Telegram by a Russian-speaking individual who went by the alias "El Money."

The handler offered financial compensation in exchange for executing the firebombings on British soil.

A third defendant, 35-year-old Ukrainian Petro Pochynok, was accused of being recruited by Carpiuc to help Lavrynovych carry out the attacks. He was acquitted of all charges on Monday.

The BBC, meanwhile, claimed that its investigators identified EL as likely being Evgeny Lyukshin, a young Russian diplomat with connections to senior figures in Moscow.

Nighttime Attacks

The arson campaign began with the targeted destruction of a Toyota RAV4 in Kentish Town, north London. The vehicle was previously owned by the prime minister.

Days later, the violence escalated.

Assailants set two residential houses ablaze in the middle of the night. One of the targeted properties, which Starmer still owns, was occupied by his sister-in-law and her family at the time of the incident.

Prosecutors emphasized that the late-night timing and severe nature of the fires posed a serious and immediate threat to life.

Swift Verdict

Lavrynovych, identified as the individual who physically started the fires, received an additional conviction.

He was found guilty of acting recklessly regarding the endangerment of life during the May 11 and May 12 attacks.

The jury deliberated for just seven-and-a-half hours before returning guilty verdicts after reviewing hundreds of pages of digital and physical evidence.

Presiding Judge Neil Garnham has remanded both Lavrynovych and Carpiuc into custody.

The two men are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.